When the Red King Comes

by Elf Power

Overview

As the Elephant 6 catalog continues to expand, it becomes increasingly obvious that many of the label's bands are concerned not merely with creating fresh and exciting music but rather entire mythologies, crafting obscure concept records exploring the intricacies of strange pocket universes. Existing in the musical gray area between Olivia Tremor Control and Neutral Milk Hotel -- both of whose members make cameos here -- Elf Power's superb When the Red King Comes is a heady journey to a psychedelic utopia, a travelogue with such destinations as "The Secret Ocean," "The Separating Fault," and "The Silver Lake." As imagined primarily by singer/songwriter Andrew Rieger, the album is a odyssey "Into the Everlasting Time," and true to its word, it seems to exist outside of any obvious era -- the fuzzy, lo-fi production is an Elephant 6 hallmark, but the unique instrumentation (electric horns, pump organs, even Nepalese percussion) and cryptic, stream-of-consciousness wordplay suggest something altogether different; perhaps most telling is When the Red King Comes' cover, a crazed map suggesting something out of a J.R.R. Tolkien fever dream. ~ Jason Ankeny

Product Details

Release Date:	09/21/1999
Label:	Arena Rock
UPC:	0639980000726
Rank:	90854

Tracks

1. Step Through the Portal
2. Into the Everlasting Time
3. The Frightened Singers
4. The Secret Ocean
5. The Aarow Flies Close
6. Icy Hands Will Never Melt Away
7. When the Red King Comes
8. The Separtating Fault
9. Spectators
10. Introducing Cosmic Space
11. The Bengal Parade
12. Needles in the Camel's Eye
13. ....Silver Lake
14. It's Been a Million Years

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Elf Power   Primary Artist
Bryan Holium   Sitar,Guitar,Vocals,Keyboards,Bass
Julian Kester   Vocals,Keyboards
Josh NcKay   Shawm
John Fernades   Clarinet,Vocals,Violin
Kevin Barnes   Sitar,Vocals
Andrew Rieger   Bass,Flute,Guitar,Vocals,Keyboards,Percussion,Zanzithophone
Aaron Wegelin   Drums,Vocals,Percussion
David Barbe   Vocals
Laura Carter   Loops,Vocals,Keyboards,Zanzithophone
Jeff Mangum   Vocals
Dave Wrathgeber   Vocals

Technical Credits

Elf Power   Engineer
Andrew Rieger   Composer
Will Cullen Hart   Guitorgan
Brian Eno   Composer
Phil Manzanera   Composer